A dozen different psychological treatments for depression have been proven effective. How should this inform your work as a psychotherapist? There are three possible strategies: (a) choose one treatment based on therapist competence; (b) chose an optimal treatment based on client characteristics; or (c) combine active ingredients from more than one approach. Multitheoretical Psychotherapy for Depression (MTP-D) uses a multitheoretical model to allow counselors to customize treatment based on client characteristics and to integrate strategies from more than one effective model. This is an active line of scholarship and more resources will be available here in the future.
The preliminary version of MTP-D describes 25 strategies drawn from four different approaches: cognitive, behavioral, experiential, and interpersonal. Combining these strategies in practice allows a psychotherapist to work interactively focusing on two (or more) of the following dimensions of depression: dysfunctional thinking, ineffective actions, maladaptive emotions, or distorted relationships. This version of MTP-D was presented at the Texas Psychological Association conference in November 2009.
This worksheet can be reviewed with clients in order to get a comprehensive picture of their depression.
This worksheet can be used by a counselor to plan for treating depression using strategies from more than one approach.
Twenty-five strategies from four clinical approaches are summarized here on a single page.